Seeing the extra ambush troops around the workshop, Qin Qiong dared not delay any further.
These craftsmen, even if they had to die, could not be taken away by Hou Junji!
Therefore, he shouted to the young men from Fang Family Village who had come with him: "Take action! No matter what, we cannot let that scoundrel Hou take these people away!"
"Yes!"
A hundred or so young men responded in unison.
These were students Qin Qiong had casually taken in while recuperating at the village.
They weren't true disciples, only taught some boxing and spear techniques.
But the living conditions at Fang Family Village were truly excellent, so these young men were undeniably worthy of the title "strong."
"Kill!"
"Kill!"
"Kill!"
The young men directly spurred their horses towards Hou Junji.
Hou Junji, who had been feeling smug, did not expect Qin Qiong to disregard the lives of these craftsmen.
He quickly ordered the people behind him: "Take the craftsmen away! The rest of you, block them for me!"
A group of subordinates lifted the craftsmen and ran towards the ambush troops. Once they merged, Qin Qiong's hundred or so men would be utterly unable to stop them.
Hou Junji led a hundred men to block Qin Qiong and the young men from the village. Although slightly weaker than Qin Qiong's side, his ambushing forces outside were already rushing towards them.
Qin Qiong was both anxious and furious. He hated that he hadn't housed his old subordinates in Fang Family Village!
Otherwise, Hou Junji's men would have been no match for them!
Just then, Yuan Tiangang's roar came from afar: "Follow this old Daoist to kill the enemy!"
Qin Qiong and Hou Junji simultaneously looked in the direction of the sound.
They saw over a thousand Daoist priests, swords in hand, joining the fray.
From that direction, Hou Junji's forces, who had just merged with the ambush troops, were caught in the middle.
Their expressions were vastly different.
Qin Qiong saw hope, while Hou Junji was enraged: "You old bald donkey! Don't be ignorant! Once I gain power, I will uproot your entire Daoist sect!"
"Hahahaha! Uproot the Daoist sect? What a grand boast! Survive today first!"
With his bare, unadorned head, Yuan Tiangang flicked his long sword, piercing seven bloody holes into the person in front of him.
He shook the blood off his sword, reached into his left sleeve, and flicked four black pellets towards the crowd with his fingers.
"Silent Annihilation Divine Thunder!"
With four consecutive explosions, over a dozen people were sent flying.
Those around looked at old Yuan Tiangang with fear.
In the moonlight, they hadn't seen what Yuan Tiangang had thrown.
In their eyes, the old fellow had merely waved his hand and taken down a group of people!
This old man actually knew immortal arts!
Yuan Tiangang then boasted to his disciples and grand-disciples behind him: "See! This is the immortal art I learned from the Heavenly Book!
Study it well, and in the future, you too will achieve great things!"
If Fang Er were here now, he would certainly recognize what these were.
It was clearly quicksilver packed into double-layered iron balls, and they even gave it the name "Silent Annihilation Divine Thunder"!
A single bullet used less than a tenth of a gram of quicksilver, but this ball must have at least twenty to thirty grams!
Was he not afraid of blowing himself up before he even threw it?
The ambush troops to the south of the workshop had already merged with Hou Junji's forces, and Qin Qiong was fighting with increasing difficulty.
After all, he had only recovered seventy percent of his combat strength.
"True Master Yuan, quickly snatch back the craftsmen!"
Old Yuan glanced around and then saw the bound craftsmen being carried away rapidly by people.
"Want to leave? Leave the people behind first!"
"Watch my Silent Annihilation Divine Thunder!"
Saying this, he threw four more pellets.
He blasted a path through the enemies and quickly pursued them. The juniors who followed him watched his retreating back, none of them accompanying him.
The old Daoist knows immortal arts, who can stop him?
"Go! Pikachu."
"Bah! Wrong one, try again!"
"Go, Immortal Yuan!"
"Let us learn your majestic demeanor when using immortal arts."
Old Yuan didn't realize that his habitual show-off had elevated his disciples' and grand-disciples' admiration to its peak.
In their eyes, these minor pests could not harm old Yuan.
Indeed, he himself thought so.
However, just as he killed his way to the craftsmen, another group of people, a thousand strong, suddenly appeared!
Bare-chested and wearing furs, their attire clearly indicated they were not from the Central Plains.
"Hahahaha! Hou Junji wants to hog everything? In Tang terms, it's 'the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind'!
As expected, the Great Khan was right not to trust the Tang people easily. These craftsmen are all mine!
Men, kill this bald donkey for me!"
Old Yuan became enraged!
"You dog! You can call this Daoist a bald donkey, but calling me a bald ass is unbearable!"
"Palm Thunder!"
He flicked an egg-sized projectile towards that person.
The man raised his long saber and directly struck the projectile.
Boom!
The violent explosion shattered his saber into two pieces, and the fragments smeared his face.
The man fell unwillingly.
Another person quickly supported him and repeatedly shouted: "Shini Madam! Shini Madam!"
He shouted a few times, and seeing no response, he reached out to check his breathing. He was cold!
"Bald donkey, how dare you kill my elder brother! I, Shini Niudan, will surely kill you!"
Saying this, he swung his meteor hammer towards Yuan Tiangang.
"Infinite Heavenly Venerable, don't you know why your brother 'Dan' died?
And you still dare to call a Daoist a bald donkey?
Another Palm Thunder was thrown.
Shini Niudan knew this thing couldn't be taken head-on, so he dodged it.
The round Palm Thunder smashed into the Turkic soldiers behind him and detonated suddenly.
Several more fell.
Shini Niudan looked at Old Yuan's chest and a smile appeared on his face: "Bald donkey! Continue, I want to see how many you can take!"
Old Yuan reached into his embrace, and the expression on his face froze.
"Shit."
It was gone!
Without the explosive devices, this Daoist can still vanquish demons!
"Eat this sword!"
Saying this, he thrust his long sword towards Shini Niudan.
Without the explosive items, Shini Niudan no longer feared him. With his subordinates, he surrounded old Yuan.
Even though Yuan Tiangang's swordsmanship was superb, he was reduced to a defensive struggle.
Hou Junji's men, plus the Turks, numbered over ten thousand, far beyond what a thousand Daoist priests and Qin Qiong's hundred or so young men could block.
Moreover, the objective of Hou Junji and the Turks was not to fight to the death.
During the engagement, those bound craftsmen were, without their notice, taken out of the line of sight of Qin Qiong and Yuan Tiangang.
Even when the two finally realized something was wrong, seeing Hou Junji's forces not retreating but instead attacking towards the craftsmen, they were even more shocked and angry.
The workshop must not suffer any more losses!
ps: First update